Cherry Bread is an easy quick bread with a delicious almond glaze. The pink hue is perfect for Valentine’s Day, baby showers and more.
Cherry Bread is a super easy recipe that has been passed down from generation to generation. This luscious bread is loaded with sweet cherries and each bite is delicious. It is the Best Cherry Dessert.
The entire loaf is topped in an easy to make glaze that takes this bread up a level! If you love cherries, try this easy recipe for Cherry Almond Cupcakes, Chocolate Covered Cherries and Chocolate Cherry Cake Recipe. We also really love Cherry Cobbler with Cake Mix.
Quick Bread recipes are so easy to make and often make a great snack or even breakfast. My family also enjoys Peanut Butter Bread and Blueberry Banana Bread.
What's in this post: Cherry Bread
What is Cherry Bread?
It is a sweet bread like Banana Bread or Pumpkin Bread. Cherry Bread is packed with Maraschino Cherries and the juice. It gives the bread the gorgeous pink color and flavor.
This bread is amazing alone, but the glaze adds the perfect amount of sweetness. It is easy enough to make any day of the week.
However, it is also perfect for special occasions as well. You might also like Strawberry Banana Bread.
Ingredients
Bread
- Jar of maraschino cherries
- Milk
- Maraschino Cherry Juice (from the jar of cherries)
- Almond extract
- All Purpose Flour
Glaze
- Powdered sugar
- Almond extract
- Maraschino cherry juice
Find the complete ingredient list at the bottom in the recipe card.
Get the complete list of ingredients at the bottom of the page.
Variations
- Extract. If you have an allergy or don’t prefer the taste of almond extract, you can omit this from the glaze. Vanilla Extract will not taste the same but is a good substitute. Cherry extract will give the glaze even more cherry flavor.
- Chocolate Chips. Add chocolate chips to this recipe for a delicious flavor combination.
- Lemon Zest. Use lemon zest in the glaze for a hint of citrus flavor.
How to Make Cherry Bread
Step 1. Preheat the oven and prepare the pan. Then drain the cherry juice and roughly chop the cherries.
Step 2. Combine the cherries in a small bowl with flour. This will prevent them from sinking in the bread.
Step 3. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients -flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Step 4. In a separate large mixing bowl, combine the wet ingredients. Make sure the granulated sugar, milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and almond extract are well combined.
Step 5. Slowly add in the flour mixture. Mix on low speed with the electric mixer until just combined. Gently stir in the chopped cherries.
Step 6. Finally, pour the batter into the loaf pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.
Step 7. Remove the bread from the oven and allow to cool. Then remove the bread from the pan and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
Step 8. Combine the glaze ingredients until it’s consistency that you prefer. Allow the bread to cool and pour the glaze on top of the bread.
Step 9. Allow the glaze to set completely.
Step 10. Slice, serve and enjoy this yummy bread.
Jump to recipe below for the complete instructions.
Expert Tips and Tricks
- Cover the Bread if needed. Watch the bread toward the end of the cook time. Loosely cover the bread with foil if the top of the bread gets too brown.
- Combine the cherries with flour. This will prevent the cherries from sinking to the bottom of the bread.
FAQ’s
They are usually located with the ice cream toppings.
I do not suggest using fresh or frozen cherries. This recipe is bet with Maraschino Cherries in a jar. These juicy cherries make the bread moist and delicious.
Yes, this Cherry Bread recipe is easy to make in mini loaves instead of regular size. This is perfect if you plan to bake the bread for gifts.
Store the leftover bread in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
This bread can be frozen up to 6 months. Wrap in plastic wrap and again in aluminum foil. This will keep it fresh while in the freezer.
If you are freezing slices, separate the layers with parchment paper and then wrap.
When ready to serve, allow thaw in the fridge overnight. Then place on the counter to come to room temperature.
More Easy Cherry Recipes
- Cherry Chip Cake
- Easy Cherry Fluff
- Cherry Almond Cupcakes
- The Best Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Cherry Poke Cake Recipe
- Cherry Strudel Recipe
Try this easy cherry bread recipe and see how simple it is. Then please come back and leave a comment and star recipe rating!
Cherry Bread
Ingredients
For the Bread:
- 1 10- ounce jar maraschino cherries
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup Milk
- 1/4 cup Maraschino Cherry Juice from the jar of cherries
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
For the Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2-3 Tablespoons Milk
- ½ tsp almond extract
- 1 tablespoon maraschino cherry juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and spray a 9X5 loaf pan with a non-stick cooking spray.
- Drain the cherry juice fro the har of maraschino cherries and set aside. Roughly chop the cherries. Place the cherries in a bowl and toss them with approximately 2 tablespoons of flour to keep them from sinking in the bread.
- In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, with an electric mixer mix together the sugar, milk, vegetable oil, eggs and almond extract.
- Slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix on low speed with the electric mixer until just combined.
- Gently stir in the chopped cherries.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Watch the bread toward the end of the cook time and loosely cover the bread with foil if the top of the bread gets too brown.
- Remove the bread from the oven. Let the bread cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes. Then carefully remove it from the pan and place it on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Stir together the glaze ingredients. Slowly add the milk to the mix 1 tablespoon at a time until the glaze is the consistency that you prefer.
- Once the bread has cooled completely, pour the glaze on top of the bread.
- Let the glaze set completely, the bread is ready to slice, serve and enjoy!
I had some dye free maraschino cherries to use up and decided to make this for my kids. I know how we like things so I tweaked it a smidge to suit our taste buds. I added 1 yolk just to add a bit more color to the bread given I was using natural dye maraschino cherries and cherry juice. I did do a 1tsp of vanilla and 1tsp of almond extract. Next time I would try 1 1/2 tsp of each for a little bit more flavor to come through from the almond extract. I baked at 300 for an hour and 10 minutes. I do this with all my loaf breads avoids over browning and keeps them moist. I wrapped it up and flash froze it before icing. I might use this glaze next time with a tablespoon of melted butter added to it just to thicken it a bit and cancel out a little sweetness. Thanks for posting. I want to try some of your other quick breads on this site to venture out from my old reliable recipes.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Nikki! Thank you for sharing you tweaks! I hope you try some more of my quick bread recipes and let me know what you think. Thank you!